


Crossing Swords

by ZantetsuXemnas



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Crimes & Criminals, Eventual Smut, Eventual Sora/Riku/Kairi, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Gangs, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Obsessive-ish Thoughts, Romance, Slow Burn, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:35:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28333968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZantetsuXemnas/pseuds/ZantetsuXemnas
Summary: At Sanctuary Peak High, two boys meet and are brought together by their passion for the arts and the blade, but their true feelings remain hidden from each other.
Relationships: Ansem Seeker of Darkness | Xehanort's Heartless/Maleficent (Kingdom Hearts), Aqua/Terra (Kingdom Hearts), Demyx/Larxene (Kingdom Hearts), Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas/Xion (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. The Promised Beginning

The sun rose on the town of Sanctuary Peak, and the people with it, slowly and steadily bringing the town to life. The silent streets began to whirr with the sounds of passing vehicles as people headed off to work, or school, or a place to get a good breakfast. Passersby exchanged greetings with one another, some with an enthusiastic manner and others with a simple wave of acknowledgement. There was no telling whether or not one was thrilled at the beginning of a new day, and especially for the start of a new school year. It was the first day of school at Sanctuary Peak High, and the halls were bustling with students excited to see their friends again. Nobody was more excited than Sora, though– he had run to his locker so fast that his crown necklace had bounced up and gotten lodged in his brown spikes of hair. 

“Ayyy, Sora! So, sophomore year… got any plans?” said Hayner, poking his head out around the door of Sora’s locker.

“You bet! I’ve already signed up for the fencing team _and_ theater!” Sora announced proudly.

“Real and stage combat, huh? I’m in fencing too– I guarantee you’ll see me in the Struggle arena sooner or later, so look out for that!” Hayner flashed Sora a cocky wink.

Sora laughed. “Have you seen Pence and Olette?”

“They’ve already headed off to their classes. I don’t have class with ‘em yet,” Hayner sighed. “What about you? Have you checked your schedule yet?”

Sora took a folded-up piece of paper out of his pocket and scanned it. “I have Math first period…”

“I got History. I’ll probably see you around later, though!”

“Yeah! See ya!” Cramming his stuff into his backpack, Sora ran off down the hall.

Soon enough, he arrived at his Math class and sat by the side of the room. There were already a number of people there, but the teacher hadn’t arrived yet, so most people were just chatting with each other. Sora looked around the room to see if anyone he knew was there– unfortunately to no avail.

That was when his eyes landed on the boy next to him. He looked to be just a year older than Sora, tall and slim, his lean musculature bared by his tight black sleeveless top and yellow vest. 

_Wow. He’s– he’s hot._ The thought slipped through his mind unbidden.

“Hey. You, uh, like the graphs?”

The older boy turned to look at Sora, his cyan eyes shimmering beneath a silvery-blue curtain of hair. Realizing he was staring, Sora blinked and refocused on a poster of graphs of various equations on the other side of the room.

“Yeah! Just refreshing my memory, you know? I’m Sora, by the way!” He forced a convincing grin and instinctively moved to offer a hand before deciding against touching the silver-haired boy’s hand– _he couldn’t possibly–_ and instead draping his arm over the side of his desk.

“I’m Riku,” he replied, his voice low and cool. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before…”

“Neither have I! Seen you, I mean!”

Their conversation was cut short by the teacher arriving– an older man with a wild ponytail and a dignified, straight-cut mustache. He stepped up in front of the class with a slight smile.

“Welcome, students!” he announced. “I see we have some new and old faces here today… You may call me Professor Eraqus.”

As Eraqus began his lesson, the ruffling of papers and zipping of zippers faded in throughout the classroom. Amidst the rustle, Sora leaned over to Riku.

“Hey!” he whispered. “So, are you involved in anything?”

“Oh– I’m in fencing,” Riku whispered back. “Been on the team since freshman year.”

“Whoa, really?” Sora beamed. “I just joined the team today!”

“Huh. Imagine that… we’ll have to practice together, won’t we?”

“Yeah! That’ll be great, won’t it?” A challenging grin grew on Sora’s face. “I can’t wait to see the look on your face when I–”

_SMACK_

A yardstick slashed down and hit the top of Riku’s desk with a deafening noise. Eraqus stood holding it, giving a stern look down at Sora and Riku.

“There will be _plenty_ of time for chatter after class, I assure you.”

“Oh! Uh– sorry, Professor!” said Sora sheepishly.

“Thank you.” Eraqus turned and went back to the lesson. As Sora listened, his gaze drifted back over to Riku. _Those arms of his–_ Sora’s eyes wandered over every contour of the older boy’s muscles, well-defined undoubtedly from so much fencing. Just around his waist, the zipper of his vest split apart, revealing a sliver of his stomach– now that was interesting… he couldn’t really see his abs from there, but… Sora suddenly felt Riku looking back at him and quickly averted his eyes.

“Hey, Sora…” said Riku. “This question requires a partner. Wanna do it?”

“Oh, yeah! Sure!” Sora leaned over to take a look at Riku’s worksheet. He noticed he was _very_ close to the long silver curtain where he was– he could, out of curiosity, _accidentally_ brush against Riku’s hair while getting back up… how did Riku see out of all that anyway?

“Yeah… That’s X divided by this, which means we can balance the equation like this and X equals… six,” said Sora.

“Nice. You’re smarter th– you’re smart.”

When the bell rang, everyone packed up their supplies and headed out of the classroom.

As soon as Sora was out the door, he immediately leaned back against the wall and sank to the floor. Who the hell _was_ that Riku guy anyway? Who was he and _what gave him the right to make Sora feel like this?_ Sora had never really thought of himself as someone who was attracted to guys– and yet his mind was _still_ occupied with thoughts of that silver hair and those piercing eyes. Mentally he was kicking himself for pulling back when he could’ve touched Riku’s hand… _oh. That was a good thought,_ something at the back of his mind nagged at the concept of touching Riku–

“…What am I doing?” Sora thought out loud. Riku was _far_ beyond his league– so cool and badass and unaffected by anything; he had even been on the fencing team longer than him. _No, screw it,_ Sora thought as he got up and headed to his next class. _Riku’s cool and I wanna be his friend even if it’s not like that!_

* * *

“…What the _hell_ am I _doing?!”_ Riku thought out loud. He was _so stupid,_ he told himself. This boy, this _stupid adorable Sora,_ all cute brown hair and the _brightest_ blue eyes– and did he _reach for his hand_ at one point? And _this boy,_ this second-year, said unironically that he could beat Riku at fencing _and he meant and believed it._ And he was so damn _friendly._ _Stupid Riku– couldn’t you ease up for one second to talk to this guy?_ He mentally kicked himself as he walked to his next class, a million conflicting thoughts running through his head.

Riku’s path to his next class took him away from Sora– _thank god–_ and to the band room, amidst the cacophony of students warming up, that one guy playing Heart And Soul on the piano, and the occasional massive tuba WHOMP in someone’s ear. He got his clarinet from the storage room and began assembling it, trying to take his mind off things, before a young man with a strange fauxhawk stepped up to the podium.

“Hellooooo, everyone! I’m Demyx, and it’s so great to have you all back here… Well, what are we wasting time for? We got some good stuff this year– everyone take a copy and pass the rest down the rows.” He began handing out the sheet music. Riku examined it– _A Very Small Wish._ Ah, yes– he had played this one last year.

“Oh, I almost forgot… pit orchestra signups for the school performance of _Beauty and the Beast_ are open! Just write your name on the sheet here if you’re interested– it’ll be an extra 50 points on your grade, not to mention major clout with musical fangirls and fanboys.” 

A few people snickered. Riku rolled his eyes, but he got up and wrote his name under the header– he valued the experience, plus he wouldn’t throw away a chance to play this music live. A couple more people followed suit.

“Anyway! Now that you’re all warmed up, let’s start with A Very Small Wish. We’ll take it from the top…”

The band began playing– it was a rather playful yet mysterious waltz-like tune that Riku could easily get absorbed in, even if marred by occasional wrong notes from students less familiar with the song, then transitioned into a wild, fast-paced rhythm that they had to practice considerably slower than normal.

As class was drawing to a close, and everyone packed up their instruments, Riku felt a tap on his shoulder.

_“Hey!”_

Riku turned around to see an all-too-familiar blond boy, who was busy packing up his trumpet. A grin grew on his face.

“Hey, Roxas.”

“Riku! You ready for fencing tomorrow? I still owe you one for last year.”

“Hey, last year was payback for you punching me in the face.”

“Oh, c’mon, you still remember that?!”

Riku laughed. “I swear you’re more eager to fight your own team than the other schools’.”

Roxas playfully tugged on a handful of Riku’s hair.

“Ah! All right, all right!”

Laughing, the two of them got up and headed off to their next class.

“…Hey, Roxas? Can I trust you with something?”

“Sure!”

Riku took a deep breath. “There’s… this guy in my class. His name’s Sora.”

“Go on…”

“He’s… he’s cute. Like, really hot kind of cute. His hair, his face, just in general… and he’s so _excited_ about things _._ And he just signed up for fencing this year.” 

“Ohhhhh. Edgy edgy Riku has a crush?” Roxas said with a grin.

Riku sighed. “I guess, yeah.”

“Your secret is safe with me. Want my advice?”

“I’ll pass, Mr. Never-Had-A-Girlfriend.”

“HEY EVERYONE! RIKU H–”

Riku _threw_ himself at Roxas, tackling him to the floor. People stopped and turned to look, thinking a fight was starting.

“It’s all right. Keep walking,” Riku said to the onlookers from on top of Roxas’s chest, glaring at them as if daring them to say anything about their compromising position. His endeavor was rather ruined by Roxas, who was still laughing, even despite Riku’s best efforts to muffle the teen by placing his hand over his mouth.

“You done yet?”

Roxas nodded, though his eyes still twinkled with mirth.

“If I had any doubts about your challenge before, I’m taking it now. Bring it on.” Riku got off of Roxas, trying his best to look unruffled, though his appearance said otherwise. The two of them headed back down the hall, one smiling and the other maintaining a poker-face with a nevertheless slight lilt to his lips.

* * *

“Challenge accepted, Sora! Bring it on!”

_“Hey! Guys! Someone’s challenging Ven on the course! Someone get the music!”_

One of the students took out a portable speaker and put on a fast symphonic rock song– a tradition every time someone challenged Ventus’s parkour record. 

_“3… 2… 1… GO!”_

Sora and Ventus took off as one, vaulting over the first low barrier to reach a slightly angled wall. Sora kicked off the wall, but by the time he had grabbed the ledge and was hoisting himself up, Ventus had already scrambled up the wall like it was nothing. He leaped off the wall, entirely skipping the next barrier and landing with a flawless roll as Sora tried to catch up. 

Running in between two parallel walls, Ventus chained together one, two, _three_ wall-jumps and landed on his feet on another high ledge while Sora tried his best to climb straight up. Soon, Ventus had swung across the pipe frames, hopped up onto another platform, and _backflipped_ across the finish line, causing the gathered crowd to roar with applause. Sora followed several seconds behind him, exhausted and wheezing, having considerably overexerted himself trying to keep up.

“You’re pretty good, Sora!” said Ventus, giving Sora a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “That was fun.”

“Thanks… seriously though, Ven, how do you _do_ that? The wall-jump stuff?”

“Twenty percent natural talent, eighty percent practice, I guess. You gotta push off in just the right way.”

“Well, I’ll just keep at it, I guess! In the meantime, though, I haven’t actually gotten lunch yet…” The rumble of Sora’s stomach punctuated this emphatically. “Wanna sit with Hayner and I?”

“Sure, why not?”

Sora and Ventus went in to get some chicken sandwiches from the cafeteria, then returned to the grounds. Pence and Olette were already sitting in the shade of a large tree by the parkour course, and Hayner was hanging by his knees from one of the branches– he gave the two boys an upside-down wave as they approached.

“Hey guys!” Sora called out to them. He sat against the tree with the others, and Ventus sat next to him, leaning on him a bit.

“Ayyyyy, Sora!” said Hayner. “I saw your race with Ven! Not bad, but you know the guy whose record Ven beat held it for three years, went off to college, then came back and still held it, right?”

“Really? Who was it?” asked Pence.

“I dunno! It’s… kind of a rumor, actually.”

“Well, Ven’s right here– why don’t we ask him?” Olette giggled.

“Who was it, Ven?” asked Sora excitedly.

“...You’re not gonna believe this?” said Ventus, pausing for a moment. “But it was Professor Larxene.”

 _“WHAT?!”_ they all shouted.

“The theater director? _That_ Larxene?” said Pence in disbelief.

“Yeah. I beat her old school record.” Ventus seemed a bit embarrassed at the flattery.

“How long ago was that? I didn’t know the course had even been around for that long!” said Hayner, sitting up on his branch.

“Professor Larxene’s not even that old,” said Ventus. “My brother told me that Axel told him how old she was, but he said that Axel said that Larxene said that if anyone else found out, she would stab them.”

“Yeesh. Yeah, Sora, watch out for Larxene– she can be nasty.”

“I… will keep that in mind, Hayner,” said Sora, a bit unnerved. “I’m still excited for theater, though! I got my audition script today.”

“Beauty and the Beast, right? Any character you’re hoping to get?” asked Ventus.

“I dunno! Lumiere could be fun…”

“Your voice would make a good Chip,” said Hayner.

“Heh, what if they cast you as Gaston?” said Pence.

“I don’t care how good of an actor Sora is, he’s too uncompromisably nice to play Gaston!” laughed Olette.

“And not buff enough,” quipped Hayner.

“Hey, I have muscles! They… exist!” Sora flexed an arm, straining as hard as he could– everyone snorted in laughter, and Sora joined in soon after.

“All right, guys, it looks like recess is almost over,” said Ventus, checking his phone. “We’d better get going.”

“Mkay. See ya later!” said Sora. The friends exchanged waves and headed their separate ways back to class.

* * *

Once the last bell of the day had rung, everyone began filing out of their classrooms and searching for their friends in the hallways, eager to arrange after-school fun or just catch up on things. Riku, though, made his way to the front doors alone, stopping at his locker along the way to deposit everything he didn’t need for homework.

 _“Hey! Riku!”_ a familiar voice called from behind him as he left the building. He looked back to see Sora, whose eyes were as bright as ever as he promptly ran up next to the older teen, skidding to a stop. “How’s your day been?”

_Crap. Okay… just stay chill. And don’t undress him in your mind._

“Pretty good, I guess,” said Riku as he went down the short stairway to the sidewalk.

“Got any plans for after school?” asked Sora, bypassing the stairs and jumping off the wall beside them, eliciting a smile from Riku despite his best efforts.

“Nah. Fencing doesn’t start till tomorrow– and I know you got that as well… anything else for you?”

“Well, I’ve got th–” Sora suddenly swallowed his next word.

“Hm?”

“I’ve got fencing and not much else right now.”

Before Riku could ask any more questions, they were interrupted by the sound of clattering wheels. Roxas rushed past them on his skateboard, a huge grin on his face as he shot finger-guns at Sora and Riku.

 _“Roxas!”_ Riku yelled after him, exasperated.

The blond did a triple-axel off the wall and zoomed off, still grinning.

“Was that a friend of yours?” 

Riku’s slight smile returned. “Unfortunately, yeah. We’ve been friends since last year– he joined fencing team freshman year and was always kind of on edge, and I must’ve said something wrong, ‘cause he just straight-up punched me in the face.”

“Holy crap, really?!”

“Yeah. Guy’s small, but he really did a number on me. Anyway, after we beat the crap out of each other for a bit… things were basically cool between us from then on. I honestly trust him pretty far.” _But that bitch had better not say anything to Sora,_ Riku thought to himself.

“That’s kinda weird… but I’m glad you’re friends now!” said Sora with a silly grin.

“Heh, yeah, so am I.” 

“Well, I gotta get going– Professor Lexaeus really laid it on us in History and I got a ton of homework to do,” Sora sighed. As he turned to leave, he suddenly turned back. “Uh– I live just down 13th Street and 7th Avenue, by the way!” he added.

“You’re telling me this why?”

“You know, in case we wanna hang out sometime!”

Riku looked at that earnest smile and sighed. Internally, the idea of spending time alone with Sora was putting all _kinds_ of thoughts in his head, each one more lustful than the last, but he managed to keep it from showing lest he embarrass everyone involved. “Sometime, okay?”

“Awesome! I’ll see you tomorrow, okay, Riku?”

“Will do.”

With a wave, Sora and Riku headed home, eagerly anticipating the next day.

* * *

When Sora arrived home, the door was locked. _Looks like Mom forgot to unlock it again…_

After looking around to make sure nobody was watching, Sora reached out his hand and clenched his fist. In his hand, a giant metal key suddenly materialized in a flash of light.

_I dunno why I can do this… but it sure comes in handy._

As he pointed it at the door handle, a thin blue laser beam fired from the tip of the key into the keyhole, and the lock clicked open. Sora dropped the key on the ground, where it vanished into light, and he headed inside as if nothing strange had happened at all.


	2. Future Masters

“Give her a dashing, debonair smile!”

_“But don’t frighten the poor girl.”_

“Impress her with your rapier wit!”

_“But be gentle.”_

“Shower her with compliments!”

_“But be sincere.”_

“And above all… _you must control your temper!”_

“Aaaand cut!” said Pence, who was sitting by the big tree near the parkour course. “Nice work!”

“Your accent’s pretty good, Sora!” said Olette.

“Heh, thanks!” said Sora.

“I dunno about your Beast voice, though, Hayner– it kinda sounds like you’re belching or trying to do Cookie Monster,” Olette added with a laugh.

“Aw, c’mon!” said Hayner. “I’d like to see any of you do better. Sora! I’ll be Lumiere this time, and _you_ do the Beast. Olette, you can still be Mrs. Potts.”

“If you say so,” said Sora, clearing his throat.

“All right…” said Pence. “Action!”

**_“…What’s taking her so long? I told her to come down… why isn’t she here yet?!”_ **

Hayner and Olette simply stared at Sora, jaws agape– that deep, rich _growl_ that came out of the small teen’s mouth could not possibly have been him.

“...Your turn, Olette,” said Sora confusedly, his voice back to normal.

“Oh! Uh–” She cleared her throat. _“Try to be patient, sir. The girl has lost her father and her freedom all in one day.”_

 _“Master, have you sought zat perhaps zis girl could be ze one to break ze spell?”_ read Hayner as Lumiere– his French accent was laughably bad.

 **_“Of COURSE I have! I’m not a fool…!”_ ** Sora thundered, his voice _dripping_ with barely-restrained fury and despair.

“Okay, pause for a sec,” said Hayner. “What the _hell_ is that voice you’re doing and _how_ are you doing it?”

 **_“I don’t know. I’ve always been pretty good at doing voices…”_ ** Sora answered in the same menacing rumble.

“Dude, that’s not just being good at doing voices. That’s– holy _crap,”_ said Pence. “You should seriously try out for Beast with that.”

“Wha–?! No, no, I couldn’t,” said Sora, visibly blushing.

“Yeah! You should do it!” said Hayner.

“C’mon! Just for fun!” said Olette.

Sora sighed. “All right… just for fun.”

“There we go!” laughed Hayner. “Anyway, let’s try again…”

Sora continued practicing his lines, as both Lumiere and the Beast. There was one thing keeping him from fully concentrating, though– the anticipation of after school. Not only was it the first day of fencing practice, but Riku would be there, and Sora hadn’t seen him all day. His heart was _racing_ with anticipation, to an almost maddening degree, and every minute he counted seemed to stretch out for hours.

English and Math passed in much the same way, until the final bell rang, at which point Sora _dashed_ out of class, making his way through the gym and the boys’ locker room to the grassy grounds behind the school, soon reaching the fencing practice field– a large, raised square platform emblazoned with the school’s stylized-heart logo.

“Hey! Uh… anyone here?” He quickly realized he had gotten there before anyone else. He stood awkwardly for a bit, not sure if he should use this time to warm up or what, until Hayner showed up, followed by Roxas, and then–

“Riku!” Sora waved to the silver-haired boy. “Where’ve you been, Riku?”

“Sora! Uh… in class?” Riku made his way to the platform. “I guess we don’t have many classes together.”

“I know, right? I’ve been waiting all day!”

“Yeah… me too,” replied Riku, causing Sora’s heart to skip a beat before he continued. “It’s gonna be great to have a blade in my hand again.”

“Oh– yeah!”

The conversations around them quieted suddenly as a sturdy-looking young man with extremely spiky blond hair stepped up to the practice field, eyeing the students intently. Sora tried to avoid meeting his gaze– his mere presence was intimidating. Maybe it was the weathered black jacket he wore, complete with metal shoulder pads. Maybe it was the way he carried himself, strong and alert like a soldier on a battlefield, as if an enemy could appear from around any corner. Most likely, though, it was the gigantic slab of sharpened metal he hefted over his shoulders, a thing far too huge and heavy to possibly be called a sword. Sora gulped. Was that the kind of weapon he would be training to use? Was this guy even _allowed_ to have that on school grounds?

“Well… we’re finally here. Welcome to the fencing team.” His voice carried with it the weight of untold struggles and untold Struggles. “I’m Cloud, and I’m here for one reason: to train you into the greatest fighters Sanctuary Peak has ever seen. Any questions?”

The students were silent except for a few instinctive replies of “no, sir!”

“Good. Now, your uniforms and swords are all here.” Planting his giant sword into the grass beside the practice field, Cloud opened a large duffel bag filled with padded jackets and armored pads in the school colors, and laid out a line of sabers with elegant curved blades and guards. “Take the uniform marked with your name, and take whichever blade speaks to your heart.”

 _Blade… heart… yeah,_ Sora thought, an image of his mysterious key-blade flashing through his mind as he got his uniform and took the first sword his eyes landed on. Some of the other students pored over the line of swords carefully, balancing them experimentally to see if any of them somehow mystically resonated with them.

“Remember– always keep your sword pointed down when not in use,” Cloud said as Sora gave his sword a few experimental swishes through the air. “Otherwise we have blood everywhere, you have to clean it up, and I have to do a ton of paperwork. And I don’t need more of that after the Eternal Struggle tournament from three years ago.” A dark look flashed through Cloud’s eyes as he said the last part, and whispers sizzled among the students, mostly about whether he meant the blood or the paperwork. After that, Cloud walked the students through putting on and tightening their uniforms, pads, and helmets properly, and Sora just wriggled into his uniform nervously, squishing his spiky hair into his helmet– it felt quite stifling. Nobody seemed to have brought their gym clothes today– Sora made a mental note to rectify that next time.

“All right, now that everyone’s protected, let’s get down to it. Everyone, pair up, and we’ll go through the basic techniques.”

Sora and Riku looked at each other at the same time.

“You wanna–”

“Heck yes! C’mon, Riku!” 

The two boys stood opposite each other, their eyes flashing with excitement.

“In saber fencing, points can be scored with a stab or a slash. The score zone is anywhere above the belt– one touch ends the duel and scores a point,” Cloud explained. Taking a saber of his own, which looked rather small for him, he demonstrated basic attacks, parries, and ripostes. Sora watched intently, or as intently as he could with Riku opposite him.

“Now, let’s see your form. Sora, Riku, you first. Ready…”

Sora placed his blade against Riku’s, every muscle in his body primed to explode into action the second Cloud said–

_“Fight!”_

Riku smacked Sora’s blade out of the way so hard it jarred the smaller boy’s wrist, and slashed down at his head with deadly speed. Sora just narrowly brought his blade up to stop Riku’s blow an inch from his helmet. He swung at Riku and met only empty air as Riku stepped back, then lashed out like a snake and jabbed Sora right in the ribs.

“Ow!”

“Point Riku! Footwork, Sora… you gotta move with him!” said Cloud as he moved over to the next set of fighters.

“I gotta ask you something, Sora,” said Riku. “Did you… really expect to beat me in your first practice duel?”

“No! ...Yeah.”

Riku sighed. “You’re really something, you know that? Well, you just gotta practice.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Of course, I’ve been fencing longer than you have.” Riku suddenly smirked. “Which means I’ll always be better.”

Sora’s blood _boiled_ at this. “Oh yeah? You wanna bet?”

“Yeah, sure! I’ll bet that I’ll have more wins by the end of the year.”

“You are going _down,_ Riku! I’m gonna totally crush your record!”

_“Sora! Riku! Ready…”_

Cloud had come back around to them again. They resumed their ready stances…

_“Fight!”_

Letting out what was meant to be a ferocious battle cry but came out more as a weird scream, Sora kinda just plowed bodily through Riku’s defense using his saber as a wedge and smacked Riku in the side of the helmet with it– the duel was over before it had even begun.

_“Point Sora!”_

“Yeah! Now we’re 1-1! So much for your bet, huh?”

“I… really didn’t expect you to go for the idiot charge. I guess that’s valid.”

“Hey!”

“I’ll, uh, try to slow down a little next time so you can actually figure out what to do, okay?” said Riku. “But just for today.”

“Thanks…” Sora scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

When Cloud called the start of their fight again, Riku slashed at Sora’s side just a tiny bit slower than normal. Sora was able to react and parry it, striking back with his own slash that Riku parried. Riku stepped forward, advancing on Sora as he pressed him on defense, pushing Sora closer to the edge of the field. Just as he was about to step off the side, Sora swooped in with an upward slash at Riku’s chin that he had to jump back to dodge– Sora followed up by slashing at Riku the second he landed and then slashing again, intensifying his attack and pushing Riku back, his heartbeat speeding up with the rhythmic clanging of their swords– there was no way Riku was gonna get the best of him here–

“GAH! NO!”

Riku had snuck a sneaky stab in and hit Sora, as if he could have decided to do that the whole time.

“Dang it, now it’s 1-2…!”

“Point Riku… but great recovery, Sora!” said Cloud.

“Hah… really?” Sora panted, stepping off to the side and taking off his helmet. His forehead was already glistening with sweat and his uniform was slightly damp– he was really regretting not bringing his gym clothes.

“Yeah,” said Riku, looking almost as exhausted as Sora. “You actually had me on the ropes there. …By the way, I, uh– don’t suppose you have some water? I forgot mine.”

“Oh! Yeah, sure.” Sora handed Riku his water bottle and watched, intrigued, as the older teen chugged half of it before handing it back. Sora waited until Riku wasn’t looking and took a drink himself– he was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t taste anything distinctly Riku-ish, but still, Riku’s lips had _touched_ this. _Wow, you’re desperate,_ Sora thought to himself.

Cloud took the team through a few more drills and more rounds of practice duels-- by the end of practice, Sora and Riku’s score was 2-8.

“All right, team-- now’s when we break for the day. Turn in your swords, but take your helmets and uniforms with you,” said Cloud. As Sora pulled off his thoroughly-disgusting-at-this-point uniform, Hayner approached him.

“Hey Sora! Pence and Olette and I were gonna head up to Sunset Terrace and grab some ice cream. Wanna come with? You could drag Riku along.”

“Sure!” said Sora. “What do you think, Riku?”

“…I don’t usually eat ice cream, but… sure.”

“Great! Let’s go!”

* * *

Sora, Hayner, and Riku made their way through the pleasant tree-lined streets of Sanctuary Peak. There were quite a few steep hills to climb to reach Sunset Terrace.

“Ugh… couldn’t have picked an easier place to get to after fencing?” said Riku, the incline not helping his mood considering how tired his legs already were.

“Riku, I thought you were the strongest guy on the team! A few hills should be nothing for you,” laughed Hayner.

“Hey! Riku!” teased Sora as he ran ahead up the hill. “I’m gonna beat you to Sunset Terrace!”

“Whoa, there he goes! You really gonna let him do that to you, Riku?”

 _“Over my dead body.”_ Seemingly forgetting his exhaustion, Riku took off after Sora.

Eventually, they reached their destination– a small neighborhood at the highest point in town, set apart from the rest of Sanctuary Peak by pale orangey walls and the colorful rooftops of cute houses.

“So, Hayner, where’s the ice cream place again?” asked Sora. 

“Right up by the clock tower, remember?”

“Oh, yeah! It’s just been a while since I’ve been here.”

They made their way to the brightly decorated storefront of an ice cream shop. Standing at the counter was a long-haired man with a pink apron, a painfully-forced smile, and features somewhere between delicate and corpse-like.

“Welcome to Freezy Friends Ice Cream. What can I get for you?”

“Ayyyy, Professor Vexen! How’s work been?” teased Hayner.

 _“Marvelous,”_ Vexen sneered through gritted teeth. The other teens snickered.

“All right… I’ll have strawberry!” said Pence.

“Orange swirl for me,” said Olette.

“I’ll have cake batter,” said Hayner. Vexen’s eye visibly twitched.

“Hmm… just chocolate for me,” said Riku.

“And I’ll have sea salt,” said Sora as they all paid. 

Vexen brought out five ice cream bars. “Have a _lovely_ day.”

“We will!” said Sora as they walked away.

* * *

“It still screws me up seeing Professor Vexen there, doesn’t it?” said Sora as he ate his sea-salt ice cream. The soft light of the evening sky was broken up by sparkling streetlights as he and his friends walked down the path.

“You’re tellin’ me,” said Pence. “I thought he got paid more than that… Anyway, looks like we’re here!”

Up ahead was Sunset Hill, where the sunset stained the gigantic wide sky a brilliant orange. Subtle shadows danced across the town below.

“What do you think, Riku?” asked Sora. “Isn’t it cool?”

“It’s beautiful…” Riku sat on a bench near the edge of the hill, beneath the light of a lamppost. Sora quickly followed and sat next to him.

“Doesn’t Roxas live around here?” said Olette, sitting on the other side of Sora.

“Yeah, but I’ve never really been up here before,” said Riku.

“You’ve never been to his place?” asked Hayner, sitting next to Riku.

“Nah. I don’t go to people’s houses a lot.”

“I guess I get that,” said Pence, squeezing in next to Hayner. It was getting very cramped on the bench, and Sora was very acutely aware of being pressed against Riku’s warm body.

_Keep calm._

“We still gotta hang out sometime, though, remember?” Sora held Riku’s muscular forearm as he said that, in what he hoped would be a friendly gesture.

“Yeah, I remember.” He gave an awkward laugh. “...Hey, uh, Sora, you’re kinda squeezing my hand off.”

Sora realized he was gripping Riku’s arm much harder than he expected, and putting his whole arm into it at that.

“Oh! Uh– sorry.” He let go, dragging his fingertips across Riku’s perfectly smooth skin just a _tiny_ bit. He really couldn’t help himself.

“You know…” Pence gazed thoughtfully into the distance. “Looking at things from up here, everything just looks so perfect and still. Like everything could just stay this way forever.”

Hayner raised an eyebrow at Pence. “Are you always this poetic?”

“Nah. Just… thought of something.”

“Hm. I guess I get what you’re saying…”

The five teens ate their ice cream and chatted until the sun passed below the horizon. As the sky faded from orange to red to black, they said their goodbyes and returned home.


	3. Sinister Sundown

The chemistry classroom was sterile and white as Riku walked in, from the walls to the desks to the whiteboard, the last of which bore a series of immaculately-printed notes written in blue marker. As much as Riku enjoyed the subject, chemistry with Professor Vexen was one of the classes he least looked forward to. He found his desk and sat down, next to a short blond boy with blue eyes.

“Oh, hey Roxas,” he said.

“Huh?” The boy turned around and laughed. “I’m not Roxas, I’m Ventus. Most people call me Ven.”

“Oh. Crap,” said Riku, slightly embarrassed. “You look just like him.”

“We’re actually twins! You’re Riku, right? Roxas actually told me about you.”

“Did he now? What did he say?”

Ventus lowered his head and grinned. “He said you were, and I quote, an edgy bitch.”

“Oh for–” Riku slapped the top of his desk, smiling slightly. “I am gonna get him, I swear.”

“I don’t even know where he learns those words,” Ventus laughed. Their conversation was cut short as Vexen entered the classroom.

“Welcome back,” said Vexen, his black coat swishing as he walked around the desks, collecting worksheets. “I trust you’ve all completed yesterday’s assignment…” He suddenly stopped in front of Hayner, who was seated near the back of the room.

“Your assignment?” he repeated, giving Hayner an icy green stare.

“Uh…” Hayner was sweating as if he had a gun pressed to his head. “I’ll– I’ll get it in tomorrow, mkay?”

Vexen furrowed his brow and turned away dismissively. “And you call yourself a student of science… how disappointing,” he scoffed as he returned to the front of the room. The class’s eyes were unflinchingly fixed at attention. “Now, then… today we’ll be continuing with elements and compounds. Open your textbooks to page twenty-five…”

As Vexen began the lesson, Riku’s phone vibrated against his hip. Covertly slipping it out of his pocket so as not to incur Vexen’s wrath, he noticed he had a text from an unfamiliar number:

 _Ayyyyy Riku! It’s Hayner! We gotta hang out after school, ok? We’ll meet at the corner of 13th and Margin_ – _that’s on the other side of town, near Neverdark. Don’t be late!_

Riku looked back. Hayner was diligently taking notes, still occasionally giving Vexen a fearful glance, and his phone was nowhere near visible. A sinking fear slowly grew in Riku’s stomach. He had business to take care of after school.

* * *

Riku was relieved when class let out, freeing him from having to sit with his anxiety burgeoning within him. He had to find some way to take his mind off things.

_“Hey! Riku!”_

Oh.

That would do it.

“What’s up? How was class?” asked Sora in his unmistakably and adorably cheerful voice.

“It was…” Riku sighed. “…it was kinda rough. Professor Vexen is the hardest hardass you will _ever_ meet, I swear to god.”

Sora grinned. “I bet he’s trying to make up for his ice-cream-stained image.”

Riku couldn’t help but snort in laughter. God, that smile was infectious. “I guess. Anyway, where are you going next?”

“Oh, I got History.”

“That’s Professor Lexaeus, right? I think that’s on the way to my next class,” said Riku.

“Awesome! Let’s go together!” exclaimed Sora.

“Uh– really? Okay.” 

Riku headed off, Sora following beside him as they made their way through the bustling hall to a stairway that seemed a fair bit more empty.

“So, Riku! Are you doing anything after school?” inquired Sora.

“Nah,” Riku lied, pushing from his mind the message from earlier, and also the response _“you”._ He slowed down and leaned on the railing– he actually had some semi-alone time with Sora here.

“Well, I was thinking– oh, hey Ven!”

“Ven? I’m Roxas,” said the blond boy, who had taken this moment to interrupt them on his way up the stairs.

_So much for alone time._

“Oh! Yeah,” said Sora. “I don’t think I ever knew you and Ven were, like, actually twins.”

“There’s a lot about me you don’t know,” said Roxas with a little grin. “So, you excited to get bashed by Riku again tomorrow?”

_Roxas. I hate you._

“As if!” exclaimed Sora. “I’ve been practicing!”

“With what? It’s not like we got to take our swords home.”

Sora hesitated for a moment. “You know… other stuff. Either way, I’m not gonna lose to you so easily this time!”

“I see how it is. Riku, are you gonna let him talk to you like that?” teased Roxas.

“You think?” said Riku.

“You know what, Riku? Let’s have a practice fight at my place! After school!” Sora’s expression was _glowingly_ bright. “I’ll get some stuff we can use as swords!”

Riku sighed. “As great as that sounds, I’m actually busy this afternoon. Another time, though, sure.”

“Aw… all right. Now I gotta get to class– don’t chicken out when the time comes!” Sora ran off, and Roxas followed along with him. 

Riku smiled, momentarily forgetting the thought of that text message that had wormed itself back into his mind. Honestly, it was as if _Sora_ was the master fighter here.

“I won’t, Sora. I promise you that.”

* * *

After school, Riku left the building, trying to keep his distance from people, and instinctively looking over his shoulder when he left the school grounds. He got into his car and drove off, heading toward the edge of Sanctuary Peak and down the highway. The tall black buildings of the city of Neverdark loomed in the distance. He pulled up to the corner of 13th and Margin, parking next to an old car wash and waiting outside. Eventually, he was approached by a tall, pale woman in a long black jacket.

“Riku.” She smiled thinly at him through crimson lipstick. Her voice was deep and velvety.

“Maleficent.”

“How wonderful that you could make it here… come now; your friend _Hayner_ is waiting.” She gave a slight sarcastic laugh and led Riku to a nearby apartment building, where he followed her up to a sparsely-furnished third-floor apartment. A strong smell of weed hit his nose as Maleficent opened the door. Inside, his fellow gangsters were waiting.

“Look at that– Riku made it!” chided a black-haired boy from the central table, where he was engaged in a card game with a lanky, heavily-tattooed man across from him.

“Hey, Vanitas…” Riku sighed. “You seem to be doing well.”

“You bet,” said Vanitas with a grin as he slapped down a handful of cards. “Just slammed this loser out of fifty bucks. Pay up, Sneak.” 

The tattooed man grumbled and handed Vanitas a wad of bills. 

Maleficent laughed. “Now now, Vanitas. Be careful that you’re not making enemies.” She took a seat next to a tan man with silver hair and an imposing figure– he was seated in a leather armchair that matched his black coat and was quietly looking down at the proceedings with his orange eyes.

“Like anyone here gives a fuck,” scoffed Vanitas. “Besides, with Riku here, we’ll have plenty of cash to go around. Isn’t that right, Ansem?”

“Indeed,” said Ansem. “Riku will play a special role in tonight’s operation… he should feel honored.”

“Honored… that’s one way of putting it,” said Riku. “I’m guessing you finished casing the joint?”

“All thanks to yours truly,” said Sneak. “The sucker has a safe up in the attic. We break in, you do your thing with that weird key-blade, and we got the money he owes us, no problem.”

Riku nodded. “A quick in-and-out, huh… no blood, hopefully.”

“Deadass, I hope we get to bash him up a little,” said Vanitas, pounding his fist into his other hand. “Guy’s gotta learn not to fuck with the Seekers.”

“Calm yourself, Vanitas. He will learn, make no mistake,” said Maleficent. “Now then… you and Riku will serve as the primary force. If the situation goes wrong, Sneak and Thorn will provide backup.”

“And what about you two?” asked Riku.

Maleficent rested a long-nailed hand on Ansem’s shoulder. “We have… a _date._ Isn’t that right, Ansem?”

Ansem gave a wicked smile at Maleficent. “Certainly.”

Vanitas stuck two fingers in his mouth and made a sarcastic gagging noise.

* * *

“The fuck do they even do on their dates– kick puppies?” said Vanitas. It was night now, and the streetlights streaked by as he tore down the highway on his sleek, red-and-black motorcycle.

“Beats me. The less I think about their relationship, the better,” said Riku, hanging onto the back. “And you’re one to talk about kicking puppies, Mr. I-Want-An-Excuse-To-Beat-This-Guy-Up.”

“Hey, it’s for the good of the gang, Riku. You should know that; you’ve been here long enough.”

“Good of the gang or not, we can’t blow the mission because of your bloodlust.”

“Who’s driving the bike to the mission? Me or you? Fuck off.”

They soon reached their destination, Vanitas parking his motorcycle about a block away from the house so as not to alert anybody. Sneak pulled up in his car shortly after and hopped out, accompanied by a burly dark-skinned man with wild orange hair.

“You remember the plan?” whispered Sneak. Riku and Vanitas nodded.

“Ping us if you need us,” said Thorn.

“Gotcha.”

Riku and Vanitas approached the house– it was a seemingly normal two-floor house, with another window up top leading into the attic. Something was unusual, though– the window was already open, though the attic behind it was still dark.

“That’s not good…” said Riku. “You think someone beat us to it?

“Maybe. Either way, we gotta make this quick.”

Taking care not to make too much noise, the two boys climbed up a pillar and crept across the roof until they were able to slip in through the open window. The attic was filled with cardboard boxes and dusty wooden crates– there didn’t seem to be any sign of activity among them.

“What do you think’s in these?” whispered Riku.

“Probably stuff for the museum. Doesn’t matter– all we want is the safe. It’s gotta be here somewhere…” Vanitas poked around the stacks of boxes.

“This guy runs the museum?”

“Nah, the museum’s run by that Cid guy. This guy’s probably a buddy of his.”

As Vanitas was investigating the clutter, there was a sudden movement behind him.

“Vanitas! Look out!” shouted Riku.

A knife came swinging down at the black-haired boy, who narrowly turned around and backed off in time to avoid it. The figure holding the knife stepped out of the shadows– he was wearing all black, with a motorcycle helmet obscuring his face and an assortment of armored purple guards and pads. He was larger than he had seemed at first.

“Beat it, you two. I got to this job first,” he rasped from behind his visor.

“Fuck that. This is Seeker territory and you’re not taking our score,” said Vanitas, taking out a tire iron and hefting it threateningly. “Riku? Let’s get him.”

“Guess you’re getting what you wanted, huh?” said Riku to Vanitas, trying to conceal his fear at facing down a man with a knife. He reached behind one of the crates, out of sight of the others, and clenched his fist with a wave of his hand as if snatching something out of midair. With a bassy _whoosh_ of swirling darkness, a dark, vaguely key-shaped sword shaped like a demonic wing appeared in his hand, looking to the man as if he had just pulled it from the stacks of clutter. 

“Cosplay toys to a knife fight? I see ya, kid,” the man scoffed. He swung his knife at Riku, but Riku was shockingly fast– he brought his sword up and the knife clanged off of it. Vanitas stepped up, wound up, and whacked the man in his helmet with the tire iron. He clutched his head and stepped back, uninjured but disoriented by the sudden impact. Riku took his chance to lunge at the man, swinging his sword directly at his knife hand, smashing his fingers and forcing him to drop the knife. A second later, Riku was sent reeling back as the man’s armored fist cracked him across the jaw. He felt his heart racing as the pain shot through him and everything seemed to slow down from adrenaline– if that had been the knife, he would have been dead, he thought; it was a good thing he knew how to disarm someone. Now he was backed against the wall, though. He swallowed the blood in his mouth and ducked as the man tried to grab him.

“Hey, loser!” Vanitas rushed up from behind and brought his tire iron down on the man’s unarmored back, causing him to fall forward into a stack of crates. “Take your armor off and fight us like a man, bitch!”

Riku scrambled to the side as the man got to his feet, slamming his fist into Vanitas’s gut. The black-haired boy winced as he grabbed the man’s arm and kicked him in the shin-- to no avail, thanks to his shin guards.

“Some man, fighting two-on-one,” taunted the raspy voice, punching Vanitas in the face with his left arm and letting him crumple to the floor.

Right at that moment, Riku jumped and swung his blade into the man’s face with a crunch of breaking fiberglass– the blade had actually embedded itself into his visor, and as Riku wrenched it free, the helmet was torn off the man’s head and flung across the attic. In the man’s brief moment of shock, Riku smacked him _hard_ in the side of the head with the flat of the blade. He staggered and collapsed.

“Vanitas!” Riku ran over to his teammate. “You okay?”

“Of course. Who do you think I am?” He pulled himself to his feet, grinning through the growing bruise on his cheek. “Takes more than that to put a Seeker down.”

“All right– I need you to get this guy out of here before the homeowner wakes up. I’ll take care of the safe.”

While Vanitas dragged the helpless armored man out of the house through the window, Riku resumed his search for the safe. He found it tucked away by a stack of old files, a fair bit smaller than he was anticipating. On the front was a combination lock, but Riku was undeterred– he pointed his sword at the safe, and a thin blue laser beam emanated from the tip and struck the lock, causing it to instantly click open. Brimming with anticipation, Riku opened the safe.

He expected to see stacks of cash when he looked inside, but at first he thought it was empty. It was then that he noticed the small crown-shaped ornament that lay within– exquisitely carved, made of what looked like polished obsidian, with a little hole in one of the crown’s three points. The shape seemed somewhat familiar. Riku took the crown, closed the safe, and quickly followed Vanitas out of the house.

* * *

“Did you get a look at the guy’s face?” asked Thorn once they had parked back at the Seekers’ apartment building.

“Nah, he had a ski mask on,” said Vanitas.

“Damn. Dunno if he was an enemy of the gang or what the fuck, then,” said Thorn.

“And no cash in the safe?” asked Sneak, sounding audibly disappointed.

“Nope,” said Riku, holding the black crown. “But this ornament– if it was in a museum curator’s safe, it’s gotta be valuable.”

“I bet Maleficent would like it. Seems like her thing,” joked Thorn. “Hold onto it in case she ever breaks it off with the boss!”

“Hell no,” laughed Vanitas.

Riku picked up his phone– he had left it at the apartment for fear of being traced– and took a picture of the ornament. “I honestly wanna know what this is. I think I’ve seen this symbol before…” It was then that it hit him, as he remembered a very distinctive necklace–

_“Sora.”_

“Hm?”

“Nothing.” Riku made a mental note to ask Sora about this the next day. “I gotta get going. You two hold onto the crown until Ansem and Maleficent get here.”

“Aight. See ya, Riku– Seekers for life, man!” called Thorn with a wave.

“Yeah… Seekers for life!” Riku called back as he left. He found his car and began the trip back home, where he would act like he hadn’t just been involved in a burglary and a knife fight– all in a day’s work for Riku. Even when he reached his house, the tall black buildings of Neverdark stood still in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might recognize some of the shady folks Riku interacts with– Sneak, Thorn, and the armored thief are all based on various Heartless bosses! Keep your eyes peeled for more to show up.


End file.
